Vancouver Canucks: Gudbranson trade could have small return at the deadline

As the excitement mounts on the impending trade of Erik Gudbranson, there are rumors that the rugged defender is not as valuable as we hoped. The Canucks may have to explore other options, including settling for less.

Vancouver Canucks defenceman Erik Gudbranson is such a hot topic in this market. A player that sparks so many layers of discussion. When will he be traded? Who is willing to pay the most? Could we see a scenario where he stays with theteam? The answer to the last question is no. He will want to be paid at market value and can achieve that in free agency.

On Tuesday, Frank Seravalli was on TSN 1040. He discussed the different players available at this year’s Trade Deadline, specifically Erik Gudbranson. Seravalli provided this tidbit of information while he was on:

Well, that’s not good. I had a bad feeling that adding Paul Martin and Jack Johnson to the defenceman market could soften the return on Gudbranson. However, I did not realize that the market was so poor for the former 3rd overall pick.

When I wrote about the potential trade options for Gudbranson, some of you may have felt that my returns were a little light. I was trying to be conservative, but based on this report, it appears I was expecting too much.

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In addition to the crowding of the trade market, Gudbranson is not helping his trade stock. His play has been poor, despite a few flashes such as scoring his first goal of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Gudbranson is much more physical compared to earlier in the season, but it’s exposing his lack of footspeed and poor decision-making.

Increasing his trade value

A large issue with Gudbranson is the fact that he was never a defenceman who could be relied on for offence. Martin and Johnson have that advantage, despite their declines at this stage of their careers. With Martin in the AHL, some teams may prefer the option of sending him to their farm team for depth in the playoffs.

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I believe a large detriment to Gudbranson’s value is his defensive partner. Michael Del Zotto is not playing well and looks worse when paired with Gudbranson. I prefer the keeping the current top 4 of the Canucks defence to remain the same since Gudbranson does not play well with Alexander Edler or Ben Hutton.

There is one left-shot defenceman who looked somewhat good with number 44. That player is Derrick Pouliot. I did not expect them to fair so well together. However, they seemed to compliment each other and Pouliot’s analytics did not suffer as drastically as every other defenceman paired with Gudbranson.

If Pouliot is in, then someone has to come out. I think you can see where I am going with this. Scratch Del Zotto for a couple games and alternate when he sits with Hutton. The Canucks need to be sellers at the deadline and at the very least, they should make Gudbranson look like a much better defenceman.

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By the end of February, teams could find more interest in Gudbranson. Worst case scenario, he will have to be a consolation prize for those that miss out on Martin and possibly Johnson. It’s a depressing scenario. Regardless of the market, the team needs to move on from him. Nothing would be worse than doubling down on a terrible mistake. Jim Benning may have to take whatever he can get, but it will be a better option than allowing an asset to leave for nothing again.